Sexuality and Being in the Poststructuralist Universe of Clarice Lispector

by Fitz, Earl E.

• ISBN13: 9780292725294
• ISBN10: 0292725299
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-06-01
• Publisher: Univ of Texas Pr

Summary

"Fitz is a well-established scholar whose work on Lispector is highly respected, and this is a well-focused and very knowledgeable study. One of the things I particularly like about this book is that it makes a case for reading Lispector in the light of poststructuralist theory without overwhelming the reader."--Debra A. Castillo, Professor of Romance Studies and Director of Latin American Studies Program, Cornell UniversityDriven by an unfulfilled desire for the unattainable, ultimately indefinable Other, the protagonists of the novels and stories of acclaimed Brazilian writer Clarice Lispector exemplify and humanize many of the issues central to poststructuralist thought, from the nature of language, truth, and meaning to the unstable relationships between language, being, and reality. In this book, Earl Fitz demonstrates that, in turn, poststructuralism offers important and revealing insights into all aspects of Lispector' writing, including her style, sense of structure, characters, themes, and socio-political conscience.Fitz draws on Lispector' entire oeuvre--novels, stories, crônicas, and children' literature--to argue that her writing consistently reflects the basic tenets of poststructuralist theory. He shows how Lispector' characters struggle over and humanize poststructuralist dilemmas and how their essential sense of being is deeply dependent on a shifting, and typically transgressive, sense of desire and sexuality.

Author Biography

Earl E. Fitz is Professor of Portuguese, Spanish, and Comparative Literature and Director of the Program in Comparative Literature at Vanderbilt University.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Introduction	1	(14)
Clarice Lispector and the ``Writing'' of Poststructuralism	15	(20)
A Semiotics of Being: Style, Structure, and Meaning in a Poststructural Key	35	(27)
The Erotics of Being: Self, Other, and Language	62	(26)
Characterizations, Relationships, and States of Being: Feminine, Masculine, Androgynous, and Nongendered	88	(34)
From l'Ecriture Feminine to Litterature Engagee to Writing the (Semiotic) Body (Politic): The Sociopolitical Dimension of Lispector's Textes	122	(33)
Psychoanalysis and the Poststructural Anxieties of the Lispectorian Universe	155	(32)
Conclusion	187	(6)
Appendix 1 The Works of Clarice Lispector	193	(3)
Appendix 2 In-Text Abbreviations	196	(3)
Notes	199	(24)
Bibliography	223	(14)
Index	237